Clumsy Expression
by amikaze
Summary: "Whatcha staring at man?" His eyes followed mine and all at once, the feeling of being embarrassed and thankful washed away. His eyes focused on the raven-head girl for some time, before his icy tone became clipped. "Cloud…" He started, "Don't even think about entertaining the thought. She's bad news."


Hello hello! How are you lovelies doing? :) Welcome to 'my' first FF7 story~!

This story is a collaboration with one of my fanfiction senpais who goes by the name **Amaranthos. **I was so happy that she agreed to do this with me since she's such a phenomenal writer and I absolutely adore her fics!

We already have a good portion of this written, but I don't want to post but so much since she's super busy with a lot of other things. So every now and then, I may update :) It'll be obvious which parts are mine and what parts are hers since mine will be so mediocre and she'll have it well-written!

But anyways, here's to the first chapter! I hope y'all enjoy it! :B

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_Wark! Wark! Waaa-_

The chocobo was interrupted mid-wark as a heavy hand descended upon its head. The desk it sat upon trembled a bit and a nearby tube of Chap Stick and a pile of coins fell to the ground as a result. Eyes glazed over with drowsiness were barely visible as they began to open.

_An unhappy smiley face.._

_Weird wormy things.._

_5:28…_

Orange and mauve colored rays of sunlight gently filtered into the room and gave everything a warm glow. The room had a little a slight chill to it, so that would encourage anyone to stay in bed a little longer. A nice, thick, and fluffy cobalt comforter was tangled around a limp body while sheets of a lighter blue were half way on the bed but mostly on the floor. The room itself had a-

_Wark! Wark! Waaa-_

_It hasn't even been thirty secon- oh crap! 6:20!_

After realizing that the unhappy looking weird, wormy things that appeared to say it was 5:28 less than 30 seconds ago was indeed a clock but instead of 5:28, it read 6:20. Wow, how cruel your eyes can be for playing tricks on you; makin' those 0's look like 8's.

Thanks to the 15 second snooze, the disoriented young lad scrambled out of bed only to land half way on some sheets but mostly on hardwood floor. Once he recovered from the fall, he rocketed out of his room to the bathroom; only to reenter his room in order to get the clothes he would be wearing for the day. All equipped with immediate necessities, the young chap proceeded to the bathroom once more to take of the daily grooming.

Once squeaky clean, the freshly showered young bloke assessed his being before starting out to go to school. He was bound to forget something like always. And doing that on the first day? Most likely.

_Let's see.._

_Keys. Check._

_Bookbag. Check._

_Supplies inside the bag. Check._

_Spikes are a little more tamed than usual. Check._

_Chap stick. Err, on the floor into my pocket~ Check._

_Wallet. Check._

_Smile of a Winner? Cheee- did I really just say that? I have the dumbest friend EVER._

With everything in check, including his winning smile, the young adult set off to commence his day.

_Hopefully this is the right road, that goof-off will certainly get it if this one of his pranks!_

The rather beat-up mid-sized sedan made its entrance on College Dr. as it turned onto the long, winding road set on a grade. The young man scanned the lot as he drove up the hill and into the designated parking section. The parking lot looked jam packed with other vehicles, and several cars were already circling the lot looking for a spot to park. Entering the rectangular ring, the spiky haired driver perused the lot for another spiky haired fellow.

He could see many people walking alongside the buikding, and many more having idle chitchat in the parking lot and roadways. There were so many people here for such a small place! Making a second round around the lot, a familiar voice rang out, making wary spiky haired driver brake instantaneously.

"Yoo! Cloud!"

Wary spikey haired driver Cloud saw his fellow spikey haired companion waving over to him from an adjacent row. Cloud drove a little further until he was able to make the turn onto the next row. There was his friend, saving a spot for him to park. Even though he only made one round, he wondered how he could have missed the mass of messy spikes that was practically in the middle of the parking lot. As drove into the space and parked, his friend greeted him; opening the door for him.

"Welcome to SRCC~! Kind of a drive for a community college, huh? Trust me, the most difficult thing you'll encounter here will be the parking."

"Yeah, it really is," Cloud said as he somewhat jerked the car door out of his pal's hand . "You're a little enthusiastic for today."

"Wha-! Why wouldn't I be? My favorite pal is here and I get to show you around your new school! There's so much to experience!; the food, the wi-fi, the-

"Heeey Zaaack~"

"and not to forget the ladies~!" Zack winked back to a passing group of women as he leaned on his car to finish his cool guy schtick. "You definitely can't forget the ladies, hehe. But uh, anyways, the morning is still young, let me give you a quick tour before class. Good thing we have at least one class together!"

Cloud got out of the car and gathered his belongings from the passenger seat and walked along side Zack._ 'Shin-Ra Community College'_ was fixed above the main doors as they entered. Cloud was transferring from a large university to a community college, and just from what it seemed on the outside, it didn't look all that bad. There _was_ a lot of people, but not hordes upon hordes of them. People seemed friendly, and smiled whenever eye contact was made. And one of the biggest shockers was hearing someone say 'excuse me' when they had the same path of direction with you.

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"…so never use that bathroom. Even though the toilets have sensors and are automatic, the ones in there give me creeps. I think one of the lights in there is actually a camera." Zack advised as they walked past bathrooms located near the bowels of facility. "Oh, and that vending machine only spits nickels out, so if you want all of your change in nickels, that's your machine." Cloud was taking in as much information as he could, not wanting to be left out of the-know. Every college has its insider information, and being that guy who doesn't know any of it sucks.

The two friends made their way back up to the front of the building and walked into the open lobby. Chairs and sofas lined the perimeter of the room while several tables were randomly placed somewhere near a chair. The lobby was vast, and it seemed almost like some type of multipurpose room. The scent of fast food wafted throughout the area as the mini café down the hall was preparing meals for lunch.

"You see this area right here is-

_Pretty good looking…_

"You can pretty much kick back and-

_Enjoy the view and hopefully not scare her away…_

"So if you have your laptop, or PSP or phone you can just sit over here and-

_Charge me up!_

"Cloud, are you with me, man?"

There was no other more intoxicating feeling, than the idle feeling of having my eyes search the silk planes of her neck, her long smooth neck… the indented dimples of her clavicle. Long, raven hair and pretty burgundy eyes, sang me a strange enchantment. Sheepishly I grinned at the thought. Really I'm not one of the most 'outgoing' guys, but damn…a girl like that had to be out my league. But damn would I…

"Cloud." Zack snapped his fingers.

I blinked back, "Urh…" I sheepishly grinned, "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Apart from the fact I just sold you the secret location to Area 51, nothing much I guess." He playfully strewed.

I rolled my eyes. '_Zack.'_

"So what do you think?" Zack outstretched his arms as if I couldn't see the 'grandeur' of the cafeteria already. And there she was, just two feet away.

"Che! More homey, I guess,"

Zack practically rolled his eyes, "Stupid-big-time-college-guy." He grumbled beneath his breath.

As we got seated near a wifi-hotspot, because apparently there was a strong-spot in the cafeteria, Zack popped out his phone and began flipping through his email. It seemed like a sorta unorthodox thing to do, but I remembered him telling me he was in so many extra-curricular activities he had to manage them through emails and as corky as that sounded, I never mentioned a word about it again.

I sat back into my chair, a bit nervous by my new surroundings, looking around almost aimlessly. With the move back to this side of town and joining a small college, life seemed to go at a slower pace – not so demanding from the bigger city colleges. While there were some perks to that life, I didn't feel that a guy like me – plain-old-Cloud-Strife, was in the making for big universities. I was always the sorta guy who kept reserved and practically adored alone-time.

Some called it antisocialism. I called it _none of their damn business._

"- Strife, damn it!" Zack popped in once more.

"S-Sorry man… sup?" I smiled nervously.

"Are you on some queue for staring around in space today?" he asked.

Absently I diverted his accusatory stare, to the sight of burgundy eyes curiously staring back at me. That girl! A bright blush came across her face and she diverted her attention to the group of girls at her table. All the while, I sat there somewhat stupefied and feeling oddly blessed that _she_ had looked my way. And whatever fates sat in the heavens, I whispered a grateful '_thank you'._

Instinctively my eyes strained for a second stare and then another. Gosh, I had no idea I was doing it until Zack caught up with my 'distraction.'

"Whatcha staring at man?" His eyes followed mine and all at once, the feeling of being embarrassed and thankful washed away.

His eyes focused on the raven-head girl for some time, before his icy tone became clipped. "Cloud…" He started, "Don't even think about entertaining the thought. She's bad news."

Why did that come off more like a stern warning? I hadn't expected such a cryptic reply by the playful friend.

Some part of me wanted to probe, but I didn't press any further.

"Zuppp dogs," the blaring voice of a redhead tossed both Zack and myself out of our tension.

Messily, the redhead dropped his tray of breakfast on the table. Zack, in a defeated manner, dropped his head.

"You remember the school's joker, Reno." Zack mentioned in a bored tone.

I smirked. "Sorta,"

"Sup. Who's the blond?"

Zack perked up, grabbing an arm around my neck in a death lock, "My old bestie! This here is Cloud Strife. Certified badass and bro for life."

I uneasily smiled, trying to free myself from the vice-grip. Gosh, I was so close to blacking out!

"Ohh, this is the guy from Tokyo?" he eyed Zack, "T'was wondering when I'd meet this imaginary Cloud. Nice meeting you man.."

I nodded.

"You're pretty quiet aren't you?"

I anxiously smiled rubbing the small spot behind my head. "Urh… sometimes.."

"Sooo… I heard we have a pop quiz this morning man. Baphomet-face is gonna kill us!"

I smirked, "Baphomet-face? Who's that?" I asked.

The bell rang and Zack spared me a look, "You'll see."

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Thanks for stopping by and giving this a chance! :')

Of course, reviews are certainly welcome! Thanks so much for the support and hopefully you'll stop by again when I post a second chapter! :D


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